Riot Games‘ premier European League of Legends competition LEC has announced Red Bull as its official energy drink supplier for the 2019 Spring and Summer Splits.
This deal will see LEC and Red Bull team up to host activations during live events and the finals of both splits.
According to the announcement, the two parties will also “develop grassroots League of Legends competitive events across Europe”.
The league has built up a sizable roster of partners since it was rebranded from EU LCS to LEC in October last year. In addition to Red Bull, its partners include Logitech G, Foot Locker, DXRacer, Kia Motors, Alienware, and Shell.
Red Bull is also heavily involved with esports. It’s currently partnered the likes of BIG, 100 Thieves, Team Vitality, OG, North, Cloud9, and ENCE. It also hosts a number of gaming events, owns gaming studios, and creates endemic content.
On February 21st, LEC gave an update on its viewership around the halfway point of the Spring Split. According to the article, the European competition has seen a 50 percent growth in viewers in comparison to last year with a daily unique viewership of over 1.5 million. Peak viewership is also up 40 percent year-on-year.
Esports Insider says: LEC has undoubtedly done a great job in securing high-profile companies as partners and suppliers for the 2019 season. Red Bull’s heavy involvement in esports demonstrates, to us, that it has solid intentions and obviously the LEC was seen as worthwhile for the energy drinks brand to get involved.